Job Advert – Somalia Country Office

Title: Gender Equality & GBV Technical Specialist, Somalia Country Office

ROLE PURPOSE: 

Working closely with a team of technical advisors and program officers/managers within the program operations team, this position will support the design and implementation of gender-sensitive, gender-transformative and inclusive development and humanitarian projects in order to ensure the successful delivery of quality programs that respond to the specific needs of girls, boys, men and women, and persons with disability and to  mitigate SGBV across the programme cycle. S/he will support the integration of a gender equality and inclusion lens in Save the Children’s advocacy and campaign efforts; work with the Business Development team to develop gender transformative and inclusive programs for donors; lead capacity strengthening efforts on gender equality with Country Office staff, as well as local partners; and support initiatives to collect, measure and report on program learnings and innovation on gender transformative and inclusive approaches; and support the Senior Management Team in advancing gender equality and inclusive efforts in our organizational culture.

SCOPE OF ROLE: 

Reports to:  Head of Protection, Gender & Inclusion 

Staff reporting to this post:  Gender & Inclusion coordinator

Dimension of Role: 

Save the Children has been working in Somalia for more than 70 years. The Country Office has over 450 staff across 10 field offices. In 2024 we reached more than 3.2 million people through our humanitarian and longer-term development work in Health, Nutrition, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), Education, Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL), Child Protection and Child Rights Governance. The Country Office has a large and diverse funding portfolio - managing over 80 active awards. In 2024 our portfolio was $109.2M from a range of governmental/institutional donors, including GPE, FCDO, MFA, DANIDA, Danish Embassy, SIDA, SDC, NORAD, EU, ECHO, GAC, GFFO AFDB & WB

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Strategy development and Technical Leadership 

• Support the organization in the implementation of Save the Children’s Gender Equality Policy to advance gender equality in how we program, advocate, partner and organize, and translate global thematic strategy into local objectives and initiatives

• Provide technical leadership to the Country Office, and set the strategic approach in relation to the wider country strategy related to Gender and Inclusive programming

• Collaborate globally with peers and participate in relevant Global Initiative working groups, such as the global Gender Equality Working Group and Gender Equality and Humanitarian Technical Working Group sub-working group to achieve thematic outcomes and drive breakthroughs

•   Input into and review all internal humanitarian response strategies, sectoral plans, emergency preparedness and contingency plans ensuring integration of Gender and GBV (inc. PSEA) and inclusion considerations

• Support the Country Office in the development of ambitious yet practical strategic plans, annual plans, priorities and milestones for gender and collaborate closely with other thematic technical leads i.e. child protection, education, health & nutrition, and Food security & livelihoods, to provide gender sensitive lens to sector specific strategic plans and priorities

Program Development:   

• Lead Country Office Gender Analysis and Self-Assessment exercises and the subsequent development and follow up of gender equality action plans.

• In collaboration with the Program Development team, provide high quality technical inputs into the design of gender sensitive and transformative project proposals and concept notes for a range of donors

• Lead the technical scoping, planning, and design and proposal writing during new programme development, and ensure that we design and deliver high quality Gender & GBV programmes for children, building on global best practice.

Thematic Advisory and Technical Quality Assurance: 

• Provide high quality and timely technical guidance and assistance to diverse teams across the Somalia Country Office

• Provide directions and trainings to program/project teams and partners involved in delivering projects focusing on appropriate approaches and methodologies; conceptual and practical frameworks; standards and tools for effective and quality delivery of gender equality programmes.

• Work with Research Evaluation, Accountability, Learning and Monitoring (REALM) team to conduct quality Inclusive monitoring and Gender & Disability Data Disaggregation against international standards through participatory methodologies and integrate and mainstream Gender inclusion Quality Benchmarks (QBM) across the country office.

• Support the development, implementation and evaluation of capacity strengthening plans with Country Offices and local partners to design and implement quality gender-transformative programs including facilitating high quality trainings via workshops.

• Work closely with the Area-level monitoring teams and project teams to undertake joint monitoring visits to project sites, ensuring projects are implemented in line with Quality Benchmarks and global standards and protocols, and support M&E and operations teams in the identification and implementation of action plans.

• Build capacity of national staff and partners in key technical approaches related to Gender and and Inclusive Programming.

• Contribute to organisational learning on Gender, GBV ensuring that learning from our programmes is shared across the Country Office and with our partners

• Participate in periodic technical project and programme review meetings and thematic community of practice workshops to internally review progress, challenges, best practices, lessons learnt etc on gender equality programming

• Support Country Offices in the design, testing and evaluation of innovations to advance quality gender-transformative programming and building a solid evidence base for the implementation of gender-transformative approaches

• In coordination with Awards Management team, review project deliverables and donor reports from a gender equality technical quality control perspective 

• Support integration of GBV response within Child Protection and Health sectors: including providing oversight and quality control for relevant training to be cascaded by deployable staff to Child Protection (on Caring for Child Survivors of Sexual Abuse) and Health (on Clinical Management of Rape), and advocating for necessary resources (to ensure quality control for survivor-centred and best interest of the child approaches and practices for the implementation of CMR and Case Management

Advocacy & Representation

• In collaboration with the Advocacy & Campaigns team, support the design and execution of advocacy strategy to influence policy changes, including producing high quality thought leadership materials

• Leading positioning activities on gender, such as representation at industry panels, participation in external practitioner events and networks, and internal regional/global Working Groups

• Representation at industry panels, participation in external practitioner events and networks, and internal regional/global Working Groups on Gender and inclusion

• Support sector-specific colleagues to identify and advocate in clusters and other forums to address gaps related to gender equality and GBV

• Proactively seek and share information on donor priorities and funding opportunities linking to Country and Area strategies on gender, and support donor engagement and relationship building as needed

People Management and Coordination 

• Line manage and provide technical support to the Gender & Inclusion coordinator

• Work closely with programme quality and operations team in a matrix management environment for development and implementation of high-quality projects

• Provide coaching, mentoring and constructive feedback for learning and development and capacity building of relevant staff

• Support the development of an organisational culture that reflects our full spectrum programming, promotes accountability and high performance, encourages a team culture of learning, creativity and innovation, and frees up our people to deliver outstanding results for children

COMPETENCIES AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)

Problem solving and Decision Making (Accomplished level)

• Produces data and evidence to drive decision making and quality improvement

• Provides frameworks to support decision making

• Explores and analysis external trends and their potential impact on strategic choices

Delivering Results: (Accomplished level)

• Maintains a broad strategic perspective at the same time as an awareness of the detail of a situation

• Establishes clear and compelling objectives with teams and individuals and monitors progress and performance

• Creates and applies measures and metrics to track performance

• Holds others accountable for achieving results and challenges underperformance

• Demonstrates financial awareness and a concern for cost effectiveness

Developing self and others (accomplished level)

• Gives regular positive and constructive feedback to others

• Identifies clear development needs and development plans through regular constructive reviews of their own performance (and their team’s where appropriate)

• Creates space for others to learn and provides challenging and stretching tasks and assignments when people are ready for them

• Coaches others to learn from their experiences on the job and to use the resources available to them

Working Effectively with Others: (accomplished level)

• Enables people from a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives to contribute to positive outcomes

• Breaks down silo working and challenges behaviors that are not collaborative

• Actively listens to new and different perspectives and experiences of those they work with

• Proactively supports team members and trusts their capabilities

• Knows when to follow and lend leadership to strengthen other leaders

• Recognises when trust is broken and seeks to resolve conflict and re-establish trust

Networking (accomplished level)

• Builds trust with contacts through openness and honesty

• Participates effectively in sensitive, complex and/or high impact relationships and networks

• Builds strong relationships with a broad range of stakeholders

• Spots opportunities to bring together partnerships/working alliances that have not been used before

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE AND ATTRIBUTES:

Essential

• Degree in related areas of International Development, Psychology, Sociology or related area or equivalent training/experience 

• Master or further in-depth studies or trainings in Gender, GBV or Women’s Studies

• 5 years’ field work experience implementing, managing, and/or providing technical assistance to programs in Somalia with a focus on gender equality & disability inclusion; focus on child and youth programming desirable 

• Proven experience with gender-transformative programming in areas of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Livelihoods, Maternal, Newborn and Child Heath, and/or Education

• Commitment to and understanding of gender equality, GBV Guiding Principles, the aims and principles of SC, and humanitarian standards such as the Sphere Charter and the IASC GBV Guidelines and Inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action

• Experience in working in Protection and GBV work and as Gender Equality and social inclusion (GESI) Advisor in humanitarian contexts is desirable 

• Demonstrated thought leadership expertise such as contributions to academic journals, books, articles; speaking engagements, workshop facilitation, leading conference presentations and panels is an asset

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Adult Safeguarding.

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy, all employees are also expected to carry out their duties in accordance with SCI protection from sexual exploitation abuse

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At SCI, we uphold the principle of equal rights and opportunities for all our employees. In our commitment to fostering a more inclusive workplace and addressing gender gaps, we have implemented additional efforts aimed at supporting female qualified candidates: -

·         Maternity leave (6 months)

·         Annual Leave 30 working days

·         10% *gross salary. (female allowance)

·         1.5 flexible working hours for lactating mothers

Application Information:

Please apply in English saving your cover letter and up-to-date CV as a single document. https://hcri.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/job/14896

For more information about Save the Children in Somalia and to see a full a job description, visit our website at SCI Career Site Careers (oraclecloud.com)  

Save the Children is an equal opportunity employer, and our working environment is inclusive and accessible. We need to keep children safe, so our selection process includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse. Employment is subject to our Child protection standards including background checks and adherence to our Child Safeguarding Policy

Application will be closed on 22nd December 2025

We need to keep children safe, so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse. Employment is subject to our Child Protection standards including background checks and adherence to our Child Safeguarding Policy 

Save the Children is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to employ and assign the best qualified talent.

Disclaimer:

Save the Children International does not charge any kind of fee at whichever stage of the recruitment process and does not act through recruitment agents